Pranay Manchanda was recently seen in Tara Vs Bilal along with Harshvardhan Rane and Sonia Rathee. In the film, Pranay played the role of a gay doctor. In an exclusive interview with News18 Showsha, Manchanda was asked if it was difficult to play a gay character on screen. To this, the actor mentioned that he didn’t feel it to be difficult since a lot of work on the character was also done by the writers and director of the show. However, Pranay shared that he felt the pressure of responsibility upon himself while shooting for the show.
“We have seen that over the years in the Hindi cinema, gay characters have been portrayed in a very stereotypical manner. It is also very limiting because you almost don’t humanise the character. What this film has done beautifully with my character is, it has presented it as a fully fleshed-out character. For me, the difficult part was to create a full human being with this person,” he told us.
“Writers and directors had done so much work behind it and helped me so much throughout that it was all written for me in the text form. I didn’t have to work really hard but I still felt the pressure and that responsibility. If you play a stereotypical character, that’s lazy. It is the easiest thing to do. But to find complexities in a person, that’s when you make them a real human being,” Pranay added.
Unfortunately, homosexuality is considered taboo by many in India. Asked if it made him hesitant towards playing a gay character on-screen, the 32-year-old actor said, “Absolutely not, I don’t see homosexuality as a taboo. There might be some people who see it as something different from what I am thinking. In my mind, I don’t see it differently from playing any other character. There was no apprehension in my mind.”
Pranay further revealed that he was rather excited about the role and added, “In fact, when someone told me about the role and I was offered this, I was very excited. It was a huge challenge for me. The character isn’t just a homosexual, he is a doctor, living in London, a Gujarati. This was so different from what I am and roles I have played before. I was ready to pounce on the script and start working on it.”
During the interview, Pranay also explained how Bollywood had made a joke about homosexuality with the portrayal of gay characters in the past but added that the filmmakers are rectifying their mistakes now. “Couple of decades ago, they had done that (made a joke of homosexuality). I agree with that. Now there are several people in the industry who are trying to change this and rectify the mistakes of the past. I am glad that I am working in an age where the focus is on creating realistic characters. Hopefully, the representation is going to get more and more,” he concluded.
Read all the Latest Movies News here
Comments
0 comment